Copter chartered by aid group crashes in Nepal, killing four

KATHMANDU, Nepal – A helicopter chartered by Doctors Without Borders crashed Tuesday in quake-damaged northeast Nepal and four people on board were killed, police and the aid group said.

The helicopter was returning to Kathmandu when it crashed on Yamuna Danda hill near Balefi village, Nepal Police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam said.

The bodies of three men and a woman were recovered and police rescuers were trying to return the bodies to Kathmandu, he said.

The crash occurred in a severely earthquake-damaged region, and the government and aid agencies have used helicopters to carry relief materials to mountainous regions where damage or the lack of roads has made delivery of aid all but impossible.

The website of the aid group confirmed it had chartered the flight and was working to confirm the victims’ identities. The group’s Dutch branch said one victim was Dutch but did not release the person’s identity.

“Our thoughts go out to the families and friends of all the people who lost their lives in this terrible accident,” the Dutch organization said.

A U.S. Marines UH-1 “Huey” helicopter crashed last month in a nearby district while on a rescue mission, killing six Marines and two Nepalese soldiers.

The earthquakes on April 25 and May 12 in Nepal have already killed more than 8,600 people.